Lesbian National Guardman pushes for marriage equality

A lesbian National Guardsman and her wife will testify this weekend before the Democratic Party Platform Drafting Committee, urging Democrats to take an official stand on same-sex marriage in the party platform this election.

Charlie Morgan, a chief warrant officer fighting stage-four breast cancer, and her wife, Karen, were married in New Hampshire in 2011, but Karen isn’t eligible for the same federal benefits as her straight, married counterparts because the Defense of Marriage Act prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages in states where they are legal. Karen currently has no health insurance, and if Morgan were to die, she would not receive the survivors benefits she needs to take care of their 5-year-old daughter. In all, lawyers estimate the couple is missing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost lifetime benefits. But it can be the small indignities that hurt most, Karen said.